The Ark Brought Into the Temple

1Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

2And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

3And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

4And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.

5And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude.

6And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim.

7For the cherubim spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above.

8And they drew out the poles, so that the ends of the poles were seen out in the holy place before the inner sanctuary, and they were not seen outside: and there they are unto this day.

9There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,

11So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

12Then spoke Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

13I have surely built you a house to dwell in, a settled place for you to abide in forever.

14And the king turned his face around, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)

15And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth unto David my father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,

16Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

17And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

18And the LORD said unto David my father, Since it was in your heart to build a house unto my name, you did well that it was in your heart.

19Nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son that shall be born of your body, he shall build the house unto my name.

20And the LORD has performed his word that he spoke, and I am risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

21And I have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Solomon's Prayer of Dedication

22And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:

23And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with your servants that walk before you with all their heart:

24Who has kept with your servant David my father what you promised him: you spoke also with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.

25Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that your children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as you have walked before me.

26And now, O God of Israel, let your word, I pray you, be confirmed, which you spoke unto your servant David my father.

27But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built?

28Yet have you respect unto the prayer of your servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which your servant prays before you today:

29That your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, My name shall be there: that you may hearken unto the prayer which your servant shall make toward this place.

30And hearken to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear in heaven your dwelling place: and when you hear, forgive.

31If any man trespasses against his neighbor, and an oath is required of him to cause him to swear, and the oath comes before your altar in this house:

32Then hear you in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

33When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy, because they have sinned against you, and shall turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray, and make supplication unto you in this house:

34Then hear you in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which you gave unto their fathers.

35When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them:

36Then hear you in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, that you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and give rain upon your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

37If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blight, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;

38Whatsoever prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall know every man the affliction of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

39Then hear you in heaven your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men;)

40That they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave unto our fathers.

41Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of your people Israel, but comes out of a far country for your name's sake;

42(For they shall hear of your great name, and of your strong hand, and of your outstretched arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;

43Hear you in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to you for: that all people of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have built, is called by your name.

44If your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever you shall send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house that I have built for your name:

45Then hear you in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

46If they sin against you, (for there is no man that sins not,) and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

47Yet if they shall come to themselves in the land where they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto you in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;

48And so return unto you with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto you toward their land, which you gave unto their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name:

49Then hear you their prayer and their supplication in heaven your dwelling place, and maintain their cause,

50And forgive your people that have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:

51For they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:

52That your eyes may be open unto the supplication of your servant, and unto the supplication of your people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto you.

53For you did separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by the hand of Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.

54And it was so, that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.

55And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

56Blessed be the LORD, that has given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

57The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:

58That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

59And let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:

60That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.

61Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

A Sacrifice Offered

62And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.

63And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

64The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brass altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

65And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.

66On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.